Brad Maier | Pinstripes and Sneakers – The intersection of business and the young adult

Wanna be More Productive? Get an Idea Book May 6, 2007

You’re like most young adults, ideas, thoughts, plans, and things you want to and have to do fly through your head all the time. You probably don’t even remember most of them. You doodle things in class and jot notes at work, you have dreams and ideas all the time. You probably already realize this but are wondering what good these ideas are to you. Ideas are a lot of good, but only if you organize them effectively. This is why one of the most important things you can do for yourself is to get an idea book. Writers and other creative people use them and entrepreneurs are adopting them but anyone can use them. Ask around, I bet you’ll be surprised to see who has a book like this. Used correctly they can be an incredible tool for figuring out whatever it is that’s on your mind.

Since you don’t know exactly who you are yet or what you’ll become, you shouldn’t rule this out. Who knows what could blossom? I’m sure most of you do it without thinking about it. Now you’re going to give a place and a name to your thoughts. It doesn’t take much time. You’ll be writing down things as they strike you and working on your passions so it shouldn’t be that hard to find motivation.

Its equal parts journal, to do list, sketch pad, shopping list, and whatever else you can think of. It can be big or small and what ever form you choose; notebook, binder, a box full of post-it notes, or even index cards. The most important thing is to get your thoughts down and to have a place where you can work on them and develop them. Write down ideas that you don’t even think are important, the book is your story and while one piece may not make sense, it is interesting to see what comes together when you read back through. It’s pretty tough to reach your dreams and accomplish what you want to do if you don’t spend time working at it. Putting ideas on paper also has the added benefit of making you accountable, if only to yourself, when it comes to following through. Try it for a while, who knows what will come together?